DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Report by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images for NASCAR photo —
With a remarkable fourth-to-first run on the final lap of Sunday’s 58th annual Daytona 500, Denny Hamlin scored Toyota’s maiden victory in ‘The Great American Race’ and cemented his name forever in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history books with his first win in the prestigious event.
Hamlin moved outside on the backstretch with a huge push from 2007 500 winner Kevin Harvick to pull up right behind race leader Matt Kenseth, looking through the middle as he forced Kenseth to the extreme high lane and three-wide in turn four. Kenseth tried to fight back, but got loose in ‘calamity corner’ and had to back out of the gas, leaving Hamlin to contend with new Toyota stablemate Martin Truex Jr. on the bottom for the win.
While it appeared the short way around was going to carry Truex all the way to Gatorade Victory Lane, Hamlin found a last-second side-draft and surge, rolling on the outside of the trioval and beating the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 to the line by a scant one one-hundredth (0.010) of a second at the stripe –the closest finish in the history of the ‘500’ coming in the first running of the race since the completion of the Daytona Rising project.
“This was a team victory right from the start,” Hamlin said with a smile post-race. “Our teammates did an amazing job all day, really all of the Toyotas did. I can’t even figure out what I did on the last lap — I got the push from the 4 (of Harvick), that’s all I know. This wouldn’t be possible (though) if the Toyotas hadn’t stayed together all day long.”
Hamlin’s victory was his first Daytona 500 crown in his 11th career attempt, driving the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, and the second Daytona 500 win for car owner Joe Gibbs (following Dale Jarrett’s 1993 win over Dale Earnhardt).
Truex finished a heartbreaking second, followed by defending Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch to give Toyota a sweep of the podium at Daytona International Speedway.
Harvick and Carl Edwards rounded out the top five.
Regan Smith led the underdog teams with an eighth place finish for Tommy Baldwin Racing, while Kenseth dropped all the way to 14th at the final flag.
Pre-race favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. went out after a hard crash with 30 laps to go, pounding the inside wall off turn four following a pass for fourth (Brian Vickers) gone wrong on the outside. Junior and the car he nicknamed ‘Amelia’ finished out of the race, in 36th position.
Polesitter Chase Elliott saw his hopes for victory dashed at lap 19 when he went around off the same corner and sustained heavy front-end damage after the splitter of his Chevrolet dug into the frontstretch grass. Elliott returned to the race on lap 60, but finished 37th — 40 laps in arrears.
Race Chaser Online will have more to come from Daytona International Speedway, including a full post-race story, later this evening.
RESULTS: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series; 58th Annual Daytona 500; Daytona International Speedway; Feb. 21, 2016
- Denny Hamlin (winning MOV: 0.011 seconds)
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Kyle Busch
- Kevin Harvick
- Carl Edwards
- Joey Logano
- Kyle Larson
- Regan Smith
- Austin Dillon
- Kurt Busch
- Ryan Newman
- Aric Almirola
- Kasey Kahne
- Matt Kenseth
- Michael McDowell
- Jimmie Johnson
- Jamie McMurray
- Paul Menard
- Ryan Blaney
- Brad Keselowski
- AJ Allmendinger
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Landon Cassill
- Brian Scott
- Ty Dillon
- Brian Vickers
- Michael Annett
- Trevor Bayne
- David Ragan
- Michael Waltrip
- Bobby Labonte
- Casey Mears
- Clint Bowyer
- Greg Biffle
- Danica Patrick
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Chase Elliott
- Robert Richardson Jr.
- Chris Buescher
- Matt DiBenedetto
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: speed77radio@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
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